Russian diplomat sees no reason for swift improvement in relations with US

Moscow is ready to improve relations with the United States, a diplomat stressed

MOSCOW, November 8. /TASS/. There is no reason to expect a rapid improvement in relations between Moscow and Washington following the US midterm elections, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters on Thursday.

"As for expectations concerning bilateral relationship, the president’s foreign affairs aide [Yuri Ushakov - TASS] spoke about it in detail yesterday, and I have nothing to add," Ryabkov said. "We see no reasons to expect a rapid improvement," he added.

According to the senior diplomat, the United States "is unable to get rid of phantom pains." "They have many psychological abnormalities concerning relations between countries so they need to pull themselves together and think about what is wrong with them," Ryabkov said. "Under the current circumstances, we cannot expect a rapid improvement," he reiterated.

Moscow respects the American people’s choice and is ready to improve relations with the United States, he added.

"There are no surprises for us, we respect the American people’s choice," he said, commenting on the outcome of the US midterm elections. "We will continue working to improve relations," the senior Russian diplomat added.

According to Ryabkov, Russia will "continue to patiently explain" to Washington that the path it has taken in relations with Russia is not in the United States’ interests.

"They actually ignore US interests, they think that the opinions of other countries can be dismissed, while everyone will eventually accept their policy of dictate and attempts to impose unilateral approaches and solutions on others," the Russian deputy foreign minister noted, adding that such a policy was unacceptable not only for Russia, but for a growing number of other countries as well.

"We have drawn this conclusion from responses to the United States’ unilateral actions, which in fact destroy the global arms control and regional security architecture," Ryabkov said.

The US midterm elections took place on November 6. All 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 35 out of the 100 seats in the Senate were up for grabs. In addition, 36 states and three territories held gubernatorial elections. A number of state and local officials were also elected. Following the vote, the Democratic Party is expected to secure a majority in the House of Representatives, while the Republican Party is likely to tighten its grip on the Senate. US President Donald Trump described the elections’ outcome as a "tremendous success."